The Way of the Nations

25 “Look, days are coming,” declares[fn] Yahweh, “and I will call into account all those who are circumcised in the foreskin: Egypt, Judah, and Edom, and the Ammonites,[fn] and Moab, and all those who are trimmed to the side, those who live in the desert,[fn] for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.”

10 Hear the word that Yahweh speaks to you, O house of Israel.

• 2 Thus says Yahweh:“You must not learn the way of the nations,
  • and you must not be dismayed by the signs of the heavens,
  • for the nations are dismayed by them.
  • 3 are vanity, for it is a tree cut down from the forest,
  • the work of the hands of a craftsman with the tool.
  • 4  they strengthen it with nails and hammers,
  • so that it does not stagger.
  • 5 are like scarecrows[fn] in a cucumber field, they cannot speak.
• Indeed, they must be carried,
  • for they cannot march.
• You must not be afraid of them,
  • for they cannot do evil;
• furthermore, to do good is not in them.”
  • 6 O Yahweh, you are great and your name is great in might.
  • 7  For you it is fitting.
• For among all the wise men of the nations,
  • and in all their kingdoms,[fn]
  • there is none like you.
  • 8 [fn] they are stupid and foolish, in the instruction of idols, it is wood.
  • 9  and gold from Uphaz,
• the work of the craftsman and the hands of the goldsmith.
• Blue and purple are their clothing,
  • all of them are the work of skillful people.
  • 10 is the true God, he is the living God,
  • and[fn]
• Because of his wrath the earth quakes,
  • and the nations cannot endure his anger.
• 11 “Thus[fn] you shall say to them, ‘Gods who did not make the heavens and the earth
  • will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.
  • 12 He is the maker of the earth by his power, who created the world by his wisdom,
  • and by his understanding he stretched out heaven.
  • 13 [fn] there is a noise of water in the heavens, and he causes the mist to rise from the ends[fn] of the earth.
• He makes lightning for the rain,
  • and he causes the wind to go out from his storehouses.
  • 14 [fn] is stupid, [fn] every goldsmith is ashamed by his divine image,
• for his cast image is an illusion,
  • and there is no breath in them.
  • 15 are vanity, a work of mockery, at the time of their punishment, they will perish.
  • 16 is not like these, for he is the creator of everything,
• and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance,
  • Yahweh of hosts is his name.
  • 17 the ground, you who live under the siege.’ ”
• 18 For thus says Yahweh,“Look, I am about to sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time,
  • and I will bring distress to them, so that they may feel it.”